RUSH: All right. The Israelis have rejected the ceasefire proposal made by the haughty John Kerry, who served in Vietnam. The Israelis reject ceasefire deal. The only thing a ceasefire does is allow Hamas to regroup. I think Hamas is on the ropes and that's why everybody wants a ceasefire. I'm telling you, everything over there is ass backwards. Everything in this conflict is 180 degrees out of phase. They want the ceasefire to give Hamas time to regroup. "Well, we have to make it fair, Mr. Limbaugh, because the Israelis have such an unfair advantage. They're richer and they're...

(Reuters) - Ukraine announced on Thursday that it would begin withdrawing artillery from the front line with separatist rebels in the east, a move that amounts to recognition that a ceasefire meant to take effect on Feb. 15 is holding at last. The pro-Russian rebels have already been pulling back heavy weapons for two days, but Kiev had held back, arguing that fighting had not yet ceased. However, the army reported no combat fatalities at the front for a second straight day on Thursday, the first time no troops have been killed since long before the French- and German-brokered truce...

"It is no secret that the Russian army is here. My wife runs a small shop and some men only wanted to pay in rubles. They are Russian! They have broken the silence that we once had!" Vladimir said, as his three chess partners agreed in unison. "We'd like them to leave. It's not their country," he says. "I've lived most of my life in the Soviet Union. I consider myself Ukrainian, but I prefer to live in Russia, yes. You know why? Because my wife is from Russia. My two sons live in Russia. My entire family lives in...

Monitors from the OSCE, which is monitoring the ceasefire between Kiev and separatist rebels in east Ukraine, told FRANCE 24 on Monday that the truce is not being respected in critical areas nor with regard to the withdrawal of heavy weapons. Alexander Hug, the deputy chief monitor of the special mission to Ukraine for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), warned that fighting had continued over the weekend and urged both Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed rebels to disclose information about the current positions of the heavy artillery that is to be pulled back from the front line...

(Reuters) - The package of measures underpinning a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine must be "unconditionally observed", Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said on Sunday. Dmitry Peskov was commenting on a remark by a senior pro-Russian separatist commander that, despite the truce deal that took effect at midnight, rebels have the right to fire on the town of Debaltseve in east Ukraine as it is "our territory."

(Reuters) - Rebels in eastern Ukraine refused to allow monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to reach the encircled town of Debaltseve after a ceasefire took effect on Sunday, the head of the OSCE mission said. The rebels have said the ceasefire does not apply to Debaltseve, scene of the worst fighting in recent weeks.

The leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Alexander Zakharchenko has called an emergency meeting Sunday regarding the violation of silence regime in Donbas by Kiev forces, the deputy head of DPR militia said. "The head of the Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko has called an emergency meeting at which the current situation is being discussed," Eduard Basurin said. Eduard Basurin said that at 02:00 (February 14, 23:00 GMT) armed groups of Kiev militants in the town of Debaltseve have opened fire targeting the positions of LPR and DPR. “In order to avoid civilian casualties, the units of DPR...

KYIV, September 8 /Ukrinform/. The self-declared “DPR” stops a process of exchange of captives since it says that it has not received a list of captured militants. This is said on the website of terrorists. “There are fears that we will release everyone, and Kyiv will try to cheat,” acting “minister of state security” of the “DPR” Leonid Baranov said. Due to this, the “DPR” is not planning to release about 1,000 Ukrainian military in order not to become, as they allege, “victims of fraud.”

KYIV, September 8 /Ukrinform/. Russian soldiers and militants conducted active actions near Mariupol and Donetsk since yesterday's evening. Head of the Information Resistance group Dmytro Tymchuk said about this on his page on Facebook. “Since the yesterday's (7.09.2014) evening, the enemy conducted active actions in the area of Mariupol, Donetsk, Debaltseve,” he wrote. In addition, Tymchuk informed that Russian military and terrorists fired positions and roadblocks of Ukrainian military with the use of small arms, mortars and grenade launchers in the area of inhabited localities of Zhdanivka, Zolote, Nyzhnia Krynka, Fashchivka.

KYIV, September 6 /Ukrinform/. Militants have shelled the positions of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) forces 28 times over the last 24 hours, including ten after a bilateral ceasefire was declared in Minsk.

V ladimir Putin's spokesman has denied that the Russian president and Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko agreed on a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, saying that Russia is not a party to the conflict there. Dmitry Peskov was speaking after Poroshenko's office said in a statement that the two leaders, in a telephone conversation, had reached agreement on a permanent cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists are fighting government forces. Peskov said Putin and Poroshenko "did discuss steps which would contribute to a cease-fire." However, he said, "Russia cannot agree on a cease-fire as it is not a participant in the...

Announced just now on Bloomberg TV as breaking news. Several Tweets just now breaking say it was announced by Poroshenko's "Presidential Press Service Moments ago. More as it comes.... CNBC now announcing it on their TWitter, as well: https://twitter.com/CNBCWorld

Ukraine rebels pull back from independence demands at cease-fire talks MOSCOW – Pro-Russian rebels softened their demand for full independence Monday, saying they would respect Ukraine's sovereignty in exchange for autonomy -- a shift that reflects Moscow's desire to strike a deal at a new round of peace talks. The insurgents' platform, released at the start of Monday's negotiations in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, represented a significant change in their vision for the future of Ukraine's eastern, mainly Russian-speaking region. It remains unclear, however, whether the talks can reach a compromise amid the brutal fighting that has continued in eastern...

Israel is claiming victory in the 50-day war with Hamas, which temporarily ended in a ceasefire that went into force Tuesday. "We were victorious in the negotiation phase,” said Liran Dan, Head of the National Information Directorate in the Prime Minister's Office, in an interview with IDF Radio Wednesday. “The military blow that the IDF dealt Hamas – the hardest it has experienced since it was founded – was heavy and meaningful. What we saw is that in a prolonged and well executed campaign, Hamas suffered a harsh military blow and damage to the most heavily constructed arrays it built.”...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Israel and Hamas agreed Tuesday to an open-ended cease-fire, halting a seven-week war that killed more than 2,200 people, the vast majority Palestinians, left tens of thousands in Gaza homeless and devastated entire neighborhoods in the blockaded territory. Hamas declared victory and bursts of celebratory gunfire erupted across Gaza, but the terms of the deal fell far short of Hamas' demand that Israel and Egypt open Gaza's borders. Under the Egyptian-brokered deal, Israel is to ease imports into Gaza, including aid and material for reconstruction. It also allows Palestinians to fish six nautical miles...

GAZA CITY — Hamas leaders said Tuesday afternoon that Egypt had brokered a long-term cease-fire after 50 days of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, though Israeli officials would not say whether they had actually accepted the conditions.

Terrorist factions in Gaza are apparently split once again over the possibility of accepting an Egyptian ceasefire proposal, with Hamas stubbornly refusing to accept it and at least two Islamic Jihad leaders claiming a truce will come into effect imminently. Islamic Jihad official Khaled al-Battash told interviewers a ceasefire would be coming into effect "within hours", along the same basis as the ceasefire following Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012, as outlined by an Egyptian proposal. The truce deal would include provisions for the rehabilitation of Gaza after a month and a half of fierce fighting, as well as an...

Egypt on Saturday called for an open-ended cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, urging Israel and Hamas to return to indirect talks after seven weeks of fighting punctuated by a number of failed truce attempts. The call from the foreign ministry came shortly after Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo. Egyptian officials did not say how they expected renewed talks to produce a different outcome after repeated failures. …

The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday urged Israel and the Palestinian Arabs to return to the negotiating table to quickly agree on a lasting truce in Gaza. In a unanimously adopted statement quoted by AFP, the 15-member council "offered full support to the Egyptian initiative and called upon the parties to resume negotiations to urgently reach a sustainable and lasting ceasefire." The statement drafted by France was agreed after negotiations in Cairo teetered on the verge of collapse amid a fresh flare-up of violence. The measure fell short of a full resolution, but diplomats signaled they would be ready...

Hamas declared on Tuesday night that Israel had “opened the gates of hell”. In a statement, the group’s so-called “military wing” said that it had resumed the rocket fire on Israel because the Israeli Air Force had launched an airstrike on a home in Gaza. The group warned that “the price will be a heavy one”. Senior Hamas official Ezzat al-Rishq warned, according to AFP, "Israel will not enjoy security so long as the Palestinian people do not, and it started it." While the latest truce between Israel and Hamas was set to end at midnight on Tuesday, Hamas violated...

JERUSALEM - Hamas reportedly rejected a comprehensive, 11-clause long term ceasefire proposal on Saturday. Egypt has warned that this proposal will be its final effort to secure a lasting end to the Israel-Gaza conflict. According to details leaked by Egyptian newspaper al-Shorouk, the 11-clause proposal contained several key concessions to the Palestinian delegation, including the opening of border crossings between Israel and Gaza, the elimination of the so-called "buffer zones" along the Israel-Gaza border, the extension of the fishing zone to 12 miles off the Gazan coast, and the assistance of Israel and the Palestinian Authority in rebuilding the infrastructure...

Hamas has sounded a belligerent tone as negotiations for a long-term truce continue in Cairo. In a message posted on his Facebook page, Hamas's "foreign affairs" chief Osama Hamdan said the Islamist terror group rejects the current Egyptian proposal, and pledged a "long war" of attrition against Israel. "Israel must accept the demands of the Palestinian people or face a long war," he said. Other Hamas officials issued similar statements over the course of Saturday. .....

Hamas already breached the last 72-hour ceasefire three hours ahead of its conclusion Wednesday at midnight; on Thursday morning it proved that it does not intend to honor the newly achieved five-day ceasefire either. Rocket warning sirens were sounded just after 10 a.m. on Thursday in the Eshkol Regional Council and Hof Ashkelon region, as well in the Kerem Shalom area. Shortly afterwards it was reported that a rocket fell in open ground in the Eshkol Regional Council, causing no injuries or damage. The attack comes after Hamas fired at least one rocket at the Hof Ashkelon region on Wednesday...

The Israel Air Force attacked targets in Gaza on Wednesday night, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit confirmed in a statement. The attacks came after Gaza terrorists fired rockets at southern Israel, the statement said. “The IDF is prepared for this possibility and is determined to continue to maintain the security of the State of Israel,” the statement noted. .....

A spokesman for Hamas’s “military wing”, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, warned Thursday of renewed fighting with Israel if talks in Cairo to extend a 72-truce in Gaza collapsed. “We appeal to the Palestinian delegation to not accept a ceasefire, unless it satisfies the demands of our people,” a spokesman using the nom-de-guerre Abu Obeida said in a televised address, adding that Hamas fighters were “ready to return to battle.” …

Israel has offered to extend a three-day ceasefire in Gaza which began on Tuesday after nearly a month of conflict, Israeli officials say. However, unconfirmed reports on social media suggest the militant Hamas movement, which controls Gaza, has not agreed to the extension. Egypt has been mediating in indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks. More than 1,800 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 67 Israelis, mainly soldiers, have died in the conflict. A Thai national in Israel was also killed. A senior Israeli official told the BBC Israel had expressed its readiness to extend the truce under its current terms beyond its expiry on Friday....

The innocent American could only read the headlines and shake his head sorrowfully at the continuing carnage in Gaza -- a pillar of fire by night and a cloud of smoke by day. How did this happen again? Simple: Hamas renewed its indiscriminate attacks on Israel through overhead rockets, underground tunnels, words and deeds -- and Israel finally responded in force. Not just the innocent but the sophisticated observer has to wonder: Why? What's the sense of it? There seems none from the rational -- that is, the conventionally Western -- point of view. Which may explain why generations...

The White House on Friday blasted Hamas for violating a 72-hour cease-fire agreement, calling the abduction of an Israeli soldier “barbaric.” White House spokesman Josh Earnest acknowledged reports that Hamas had used the cease-fire as cover to carry out an attack on Israeli soldiers. “That would be a rather barbaric violation of the cease-fire agreement,” Earnest said on CNN’s “New Day.” “Hamas is entirely responsible for upholding their end of the bargain, and it’s apparent that they did not do that."

A hard-won internationally brokered truce between Israel and Palestinian militants collapsed within hours Friday after the Israeli military said one of its soldiers was missing amid heavy fighting in the southern Gaza Strip and may have been captured by Hamas fighters. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stopped short of declaring the cease-fire dead, but accused Hamas of “flagrantly violating” what was to have been a three-day truce. Hamas in turn insisted it was Israel that had broken the cease-fire terms agreed to only hours earlier. Although Netanyahu distanced himself from personally announcing the breakdown of the truce – as he...

The Israeli military has told people in Gaza it is resuming operations, saying Hamas broke a planned 72-hour ceasefire just hours after it had begun. The army said it had warned residents to stay indoors. Palestinian sources said at least 30 people had been killed in an Israeli attack in Gaza. Israel said it was in response to rocket fire from Hamas. Some 1,460 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died in the conflict and 63 Israelis, mostly soldiers. The ceasefire had been brokered by the US and UN to give civilians a reprieve from the violence, and had been seen as...

Israel and Hamas agreed Thursday to an unconditional, 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire in the Gaza conflict, set to begin Friday, the United States and United Nations said. The cease-fire was scheduled to commence at 8 am local time on Friday, and is expected to last for a period of 72 hours unless it's extended, the State Department said in a statement. Military forces will be expected to stay in place during the cease-fire. In a joint statement, the U.S. and U.N. said they had gotten assurances that all parties to the conflict had agreed to the halt in hostilities.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has "made some progress" in complicated talks to try to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, his department said Thursday. "We know we're not there yet. But I think we have made some progress," said deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf, according to AFP. "The secretary is very engaged in it. And hopefully soon we'll be able to get something temporary in place," she added. Harf refused to be drawn further, including whether Washington was still trying to put in place a 24-hour truce or something longer, nor would she be drawn on how much...

<p>President Obama demanded that Israel agree to a one-sided ceasefire during a heated phone conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a report aired on Israeli TV Tuesday.</p>
<p>Both leaders quickly denounced the purported transcript of their private discussion as fake.</p>

In a rare audio message, the head of Hamas’s “military wing” declared on Tuesday that the only way to reach a ceasefire in Gaza is for Israel to end its “siege” on the coastal territory. The message by Mohammed Deif, head of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was broadcast on Hamas’s television network, and is the first official statement by Deif since Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012. In the message, the arch-terrorist repeated Hamas’s conditions for a ceasefire, saying, "The firing will stop only if the [Israeli] aggression ends only if and the blockade is lifted. The Zionist entity...

Damning evidence has emerged of US President Barack Obama's dismissal of Israel's position in favor of supporting the position of Hamas and its allies... A "senior US official" leaked an audio recording of a telephone conversation between Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to Channel One. In it the 35-minute conversation, which took place on Sunday, the US President appears downright hostile at points, and even cuts off Netanyahu in the middle of his protestations over a one-sided truce proposal which would have seen Hamas receive all its key demands, but that Israel ultimately rejected. The following is an excerpt...

Danny Dayan, head of the Council of Judea and Samaria, said Monday that asking Israel to stop its attacks on Hamas at this time was “a perversion of morality and diplomacy.” Israelis understand quite well, he said, that “they are fighting for their homes. No matter what we do the enemy will never be satisfied” without Israel's destruction. “We must continue fighting until our goals are reached.” Dayan was speaking in light of the heavy pressure being placed on Israel by US President Barack H Obama for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire. In his proposal, Obama said that the issue...

U.S. President Barack Obama spoke with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday evening, and stressed the need for an immediate and sustainable ceasefire in Gaza. “The President underscored the United States’ strong condemnation of Hamas’ rocket and tunnel attacks against Israel and reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself,” said a statement from the White House. “The President also reiterated the United States’ serious and growing concern about the rising number of Palestinian civilian deaths and the loss of Israeli lives, as well as the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza,” it added. According to the statement, Obama “made clear the strategic...

GAZA CITY, Gaza — The militant group that rules the Gaza Strip asked for a cease-fire hours after Israel resumed attacks on the enclave. An Israeli army spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner did not say if Israel would hold fire during, adding that troops would continue demolishing militant tunnels. And during an appearance on NBC's Meet The Press, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hamas had not kept to any ceasefire agreement. "We’ve accepted five ceasefires — Hamas has rejected every single one of them," he said. Artillery fire and air strikes punctuated Israel's earlier announcement that it would...

JERUSALEM — Israel’s top ministers decided Saturday night to extend a humanitarian halt to hostilities in the Gaza Strip for 24 hours, but said their troops would continue to operate to destroy tunnels from Gaza into its territory during Sunday’s pause. The decision came despite continued fire from Gaza into Israel during Israel’s initial four-hour extension of a 12-hour humanitarian pause on Saturday that both sides had agreed to at the request of the United Nations. Three mortars landed in open areas near Gaza just as the original lull was expiring at 8 p.m. Before midnight, more than a dozen...

US Secretary of State John Kerry informed Hamas via Qatar last week that under his proposal for a ceasefire with Israel, based on the original Egyptian initiative, the US would guarantee the fulfillment of many of Hamas’s demands for an end to the war, Palestinian sources told The Times of Israel on Saturday. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign up! Kerry’s handling of the ceasefire effort was castigated by Israeli sources on Friday and Saturday, and the Israeli security cabinet unanimously rejected his ceasefire proposal on Friday night. The...

Militants resumed firings rockets into Israel from Gaza on Saturday, rejecting an extension to a ceasefire in a conflict in which more than 1,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died. Israel had agreed to extend an initial 12-hour pause in the fighting by a further four hours but this was rejected by Islamist group Hamas, which dominates Gaza. Warning sirens sounded across the country as rockets were fired as far as the Tel Aviv area, police said. Israeli tank fire killed a man in the southern Gaza Strip, a local official said, announcing the first fatality after the breakdown of the...

News / Middle East US Official: Israel Declares 12-Hour Cease-fire in Gaza Saturday OA News Last updated on: July 25, 2014 3:19 PM A U.S. official says Israel has declared a 12-hour-long cease-fire in Gaza for Saturday. The pause in fighting would take effect 7:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT).

Diplomatic-security cabinet "flatly rejects" American proposals for a week-long humanitarian halt to fighting, seeks changes to terms. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's security cabinet has rejected proposals for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and is seeking changes to the plans, a government source said on Friday. US Secretary of State John Kerry has been pushing for a halt to 18 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Full details of the proposed truce have not been released, but the government official, who declined to be named, said Israel wanted modifications before agreeing to any end to...

Hamas continues to be uncompromising in its position regarding an international cease-fire, AFP reports Wednesday. "We reject today and will reject in the future," Hamas leader-in-exile Khaled Meshaal insisted, in a public speech in Qatar. Meshaal insisted that Israel must accept his list of unprecedented conditions for a cease-fire - which included lifting several security measures, such as the naval blockade and border control, designed to prevent terrorists entering into Israel, as well as re-releasing terrorists arrested earlier this month - and only then will Hamas deliberate with Israel on a date for a cease-fire. Meshaal claimed that the terms...

Hamas and Egypt are at odds over an unconfirmed cease-fire deal with Israel, Walla! News reports Tuesday—after Cairo refused to add to the terms of its mediation unprecedented “conditions” tempering the move. Hamas, which has rejected not one, but three separate ceasefire attempts, called on Israel over the past week to submit to a number of “conditions”—or demands—in return for an end to the violence against Israelis. The calls were accompanied by threats against the Israeli people, made through a series of weakly-worded text messages. These “conditions” include, among other things, greater access to international waters, reopening of border crossings,...

Hamas agreed on Wednesday night to a temporary humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, but not before firing another salvo of rockets towards Israel. "The group agrees to a ceasefire for five hours," starting from 10:00 a.m. local time Thursday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement quoted by the AFP news agency. "The Palestinian factions agreed to accept the offer from the United Nations for a cooling-down on the ground for five hours starting from 10 in the morning," he told the news agency. Shortly before 2:00 a.m. Thursday morning, however, sirens were heard in the Eshkol region, Hof...

The United States is doing "everything in our power" to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday, according to AFP. "Our concern is to have a legitimate ceasefire and see if we can find a way to stop the conflict and killing so we can get to the real issues that are underlying it," Kerry told reporters as he met his counterpart from Luxembourg. "And we're doing everything in our power," said Kerry, adding that he has been speaking to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Arab officials. .....